Brothers Returned
by CrazySarahify
Summary: It's the 12th anniversary on the best day of Luffy's life, but now it's one of the loneliest. What happens when, on the 12th anniversary of Ace, Sabo, and Luffy becoming brothers, Luffy tells his crew about them? What happens when they meet two supposedly dead men on their ship? No pairings. Rated T for language. Some OOC moments. Alive!Ace
1. Brothers

Chapter 1: Brothers

**(Hey guyz~! So I came up with this idea about a week ago but didn't know if I should make it. In the end, I asked if it should be made and I got a few people to say I should make it. I don't know if this is a one-shot or not. You tell me after reading okay? On to the crap!)**

Luffy was being strangely quiet. Everyone knew he was different because he had lost Ace two years ago and they were separated the whole time, but he was being too quiet for their liking. Luffy was just sitting on Sunny's head; his legs crossed, hands in his lap, and staring blankly out to the sea. Every once in a while, someone would look over at him and see him shutter slightly. If you listened close enough, and somehow managed to block out the sounds of the small waves hitting their ship, you could hear Luffy almost sniffling. A clear sign the boy was crying but trying not to show it.

After a few minutes of sitting in his spot, Luffy put his infamous straw hat on his head, allowing it to shadow his eyes. He turned around and jumped down on to the deck. Slowly and quietly he made his way to the kitchen. Everyone had started to ease up, believing the boy would just try to get into the fridge and steal something to eat. But that wasn't it at all.

When Luffy came back out of the kitchen, he was holding three red cups and a bottle of sake. Normally Nami, Zoro, and Sanji would have been mad – seeing as how the boy had just broke into the kitchen and took an expensive bottle of sake – but that wasn't the case. Instead they were all curious, worried even. Everyone knew how much Luffy hated alcohol. So why did he have it?

Luffy stopped in the middle of the lawn deck and turned his head as if looking for something, his hat still covering his eyes and half his face. Slowly Luffy walked over to Robin and Chopper, who were sitting at one of the tables with Robin reading to Chopper while he was coloring something. Robin looked up at her captain questioningly when he stopped at the table. He pointed at the marker while with his head turned slightly towards Chopper, almost as if asking for permission to use it. Chopper nodded and handed the spare marker to his captain who nodded his thanks.

Luffy slowly turned back towards Sunny's figure head and went back to sitting on it. He placed the three cups in a small circle in front of him and uncapped the marker before writing a small letter on each cup. The first having an 'A', the second having an 'S', and the last one having an 'L'. He put the cap back on the marker before putting it in his lap and opening the sake. Slowly and carefully, he poured the sake into the cups until they were filled. He closed the bottle and placed it back in his lap before grabbing the cup with the 'L'.

"...I'm sorry... To being brothers..." Luffy said in a shaky and quiet tone before downing the contents of the cup.

"Luffy...?" Nami called out quietly.

Luffy flinched at the sudden sound and slightly turned his head towards Nami, showing she had his attention.

"Are... Are you okay?" Nami asked slowly. "You aren't acting like yourself."

Luffy hesitated for a moment before slightly nodding his head. He didn't want to worry his friends so he thought he would lie. His body betrayed him though and he started shaking as tears streamed down his cheeks again. The only thing saving Luffy was the fact that he had his back to his friends so they couldn't see.

"Luffy..." Chopper whispered with worry, having heard the faint sounds of sniffling.

In an attempt to help his captain, Chopper slowly walked up to Luffy and gave him a small hug from behind. Chopper felt Luffy flinch but didn't let go. After a few moments, Luffy turned slightly and grabbed the small doctor. Chopper was surprised when Luffy gave him a hug and buried his face into the reindeer's hat. After a few seconds, Chopper could hear Luffy crying again. The gasping of breath and feeling of shaking worried Chopper and the small doctor just hugged his captain back. A minute or so passed before Luffy let go of Chopper.

"Sorry..." Luffy muttered with a shaky breath, eyes still covered.

"Why are you crying? You can tell us." Chopper whispered.

"It's nothing... Just... Today's painful..." Luffy explained.

"What do you mean?" Chopper pressed on.

"Twelve years ago today... It was the happiest day of my life... Now its almost the saddest... It was the day I stopped being lonely... But now their gone..." Luffy muttered, his voice fading off towards the end as another tear fell down his cheek.

"...I miss them so much..." Luffy whispered as he reached towards the sake filled cups.

Chopper looked at the cups and noticed the letters, "'ASL'?" the small boy questioned.

Luffy nodded, a small smile forming on his lips before fading.

"Who are they?" Chopper asked.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy. It was for me and my brothers." Luffy stated.

"Sabo?" Chopper asked.

"Yeah... He was my older brother..." Luffy chuckled slightly to himself. "He was always nicer than Ace... He was smart, nice, fun, and strong..."

"'Was'?" Chopper asked, almost fearing the answer.

Immediately, the small smile that was forming on Luffy's lips, fell. "He... He died twelve years ago... He was trying to escape from his parents and our island when a Celestial Dragon shot his boat and killed him." Luffy explained.

Chopper was speechless. Luffy had two brothers? And now both of them were gone? Chopper was angry at himself for not knowing. But how could he have known? Luffy never mentioned him. Hell they wouldn't have known about him and Ace being brothers if they didn't run into the older in Alabasta.

"'His parents'? Don't you mean your parents?" Nami asked quietly.

Luffy turned his head slightly, almost forgetting the rest of the crew that was behind him. "Ace, Sabo, and I weren't related. Ace and I were left by my gramps to be raised by mountain bandits so we would be strong Marines. Messed up logic, I know. Sabo was a noble who hated his parents and all other nobles. He ran away and met Ace. A few years later I came in and met them. We were just misfits." Luffy explained.

"Then you aren't brothers?" Zoro asked bluntly.

"Yes we are!" Luffy shouted angrily as he spun around completely to glare at Zoro.

Everyone knew those eyes. Whoever those eyes were aimed at was usually an enemy that had pissed of Luffy to no end. But the boy never showed those eyes to any of them – except maybe Robin or Franky but that was before Luffy really knew them. Seeing Luffy look at his best friend and first mate like that meant the swordsman had touched a nerve.

"We are brothers! No one can take that away from me! They saved me! They saved me from my loneliness and pain. Being alone... It hurts far more than physical pain ever could... They brought me away from that. We even made a vow of brotherhood. Twelve years ago today we became brothers, and I thought I'd never be lonely again. How wrong I was..." Luffy said as he calmed down and his hat covered his eyes again.

"Luffy..." Nami whispered in shock.

"I'm not surprised you don't understand. You all had someone to raise you correctly. Chopper and Robin are the only one's that would be able to understand. I lived seven years in a village by myself without knowing who my parents were. Only one person truly helped me until Shanks came along. Makino wasn't my mom but she treated me like her son. Then gramps came and took me away from her to be raised by mountain bandits instead. The first thing they told me was I had to fend for myself. They wouldn't feed me unless I worked. They didn't care about me at all in the beginning. The only person I thought I could have a chance at getting along with was Ace and he hated me.

"Everyday I would try to hang out with him and he would just try to kill me. Throw me off a bridge, roll a boulder down a cliff and run me over, break trees and make them land on me or roll them down and hope they hit me, etc. He hated me but I kept chasing him. Eventually I started getting faster and avoided most the stuff he sent at me. I followed him to Gray Terminal and back towards the forest again. That's when I met Sabo. He even wanted to kill me because I knew where all their gold was, where their pirate fund was. Some guys were looking for them and my screams for help brought them. Ace and Sabo hid while the guys found me. They wanted the money, bu I never told. If I told then Ace and Sabo would hate me even more and I would still be lonely. Those men tortured me. They tied me up, hung me from the ceiling, and punched me with spiked gloves. When they were about the kill me, Ace and Sabo saved me.

"After Ace and Sabo beat them up, they helped me with my wounds. That night Sabo stayed with us and the bandits. Everyday we hunted and brought home dinner. Everyday we got just a little closer. Eventually, Ace told us if we exchanged sake cups, we would be brothers. He said 'When we become pirates, we might not be crewmates on the same ship but our bonds will keep us together as brothers. No matter where we are or what we do, our bond will not be broken.' After that, we decided to make a secret base. It was amazing. Just the three of us built it and lived in it. At the top we had our flag and an amazing view of the entire island. But then a storm came and destroyed a good amount of it. That storm was the first thing to ruin our happiness and started a huge chain of events that didn't end well.

"We went to Gray Terminal again and started getting pieces we could use to repair the base. That's when Sabo's dad found us... He forced Sabo to go back with the threat of hurting Ace and me. That was the last time we saw Sabo... A few days later, Gray Terminal was burning down and Ace and I were stuck in the middle of it. Some pirates came and started yelling at us to hand over our pirate funds or else they would kill me. Ace did as told and they turned on us. They attacked us. When they were about to kill me, Ace yelled at them to stop and they all fell unconscious except for the captain. He was about to kill Ace when the mountain bandits came and stopped him. Dadan, the leader, told the mountain bandits to get me out of there as her and Ace fought. They were missing for three days. I wanted to find Ace. I knew Sabo was safe because he was in the city but nobody had heard anything from Ace or Dadan. But just as I was about to go look for them, they returned. Dadan had used herself as a shield from the flames so Ace would be safe. But both were alive. Everyone started getting happier.

"A day or two later, one of the bandits, Dogra, had returned and told us he saw Sabo on a small boat heading out to sea. But a ship was coming in, carrying a Celestial Dragon. The Celestial Dragon shot Sabo's boat... He killed my brother... Ace snapped and had to be tied to a tree so that he wouldn't hunt down the Celestial Dragon, Saint Jalmack. The next day we got a letter. The letter was for me and Ace from Sabo. Ace was untied and he walked away with the letter. I followed him in secret and saw him stop at a cliff before he started crying. That was the first time I ever saw him cry... The next day he found me on that same cliff, crying. He punched me and told me 'A man doesn't show his tears'. That was the day I promised to get stronger so I wouldn't lose anyone important ever again. Ace made me promise we would live without regrets. I told Ace not to die... He even promised he wouldn't. He told me 'There's no way I'd die and leave behind a weakling of a brother like you.' He lied...

"He died in my arms and Marineford after telling me he had one regret. That he couldn't see me live my dream. He broke our only two promises... And his promise to Sabo. Sabo's letter said for Ace to watch over me and never leave me alone... You have no idea how painful that is..." Luffy explained, tears pouring down his cheeks towards the end.

"Luffy..." Nami muttered in shock, her hand covering her mouth as she tried to hold back her tears unlike Chopper, Usopp, and Franky.

"Luffy!" Chopper and Usopp cried as they hugged their captain.

"That's so beautiful and so sad..." Brook said quietly.

"Your bro's sounded like great guys Luffy-bro!" Franky cried while trying to wipe away the tears.

"Sorry Luffy... I didn't know..." Zoro muttered.

"Luffy-san? Do you mind describing Sabo-san?" Robin asked.

"Blonde, curly hair. Dark blue eyes. Had a gap in his teeth. Always wore a blue tail coat and a black top hat with blue goggles on it." Luffy described quietly.

"What did he use as a weapon?" Robin asked.

"The three of us used pipes to fight." Luffy said. "Why do you ask?"

"He reminds me of someone I knew. But if what you say is true then I suppose I'm wrong." Robin said.

There were a few moments of silence before everyone heard a sigh.

"Damn... Now I feel bad..." An unfamiliar voice said.

Everyone looked around but didn't see anyone new.

"Hey... Are you crying?" The voice asked before the sound of someone being punched was heard. "Ow! Don't hit me!"

Everyone was on guard at this point, in case the voice belong to an attacker. Luffy wiped his eyes and stood up. "Who's there?" he called out.

"Man... You got soft." the voice said only to be punched again. "OW! I said stop hitting me! It's not my fault you can't keep your emotions at bay it comes to Lu!"

Luffy froze. Nobody called him that. Not even his own crew. Only two people did. But they were dead! Luffy fought with himself for a few more moments before slowly heading to the railing.

"Seriously... Do you want him to see you like this?" a pause. "Ha! Missed me! Ow! Seriously! Stop. Hitting. Me!"

"Stop making fun of me!" A second and slightly more familiar voice sounded.

"It isn't my fault you're a baby!" The first voice said.

"I'm older than you!" the second shouted.

"So? Age doesn't matter. I'm more mature while you might as well be a baby!" the first voice teezed, sounding like he was smiling.

"Shut the hell up!" the second voice shouted.

"You are so immature." the first voice said before laughing.

At this point, Luffy was at the railing. Slowly he leaned over and looked down. His eyes widening at the sight before he started backing away. While backing away, Luffy tripped and fell to the ground but kept backing up while still staring at the rails.

"It's... It's not possible..." Luffy muttered.

"Luffy? What's wrong?" Usopp called out.

A sigh. "I guess we've been found out. Come on cry baby." the first voice said.

"I'm not a cry baby!" the second argued.

"Yeah yeah. Your tears say otherwise. Wipe 'em away already. It's not right to see you crying." The first voice said.

A growl was heard before a man dressed in blue with a top hat on jumped on deck. He looked like a noble. A long blue tail coat with rolled up sleeves, a black shirt that was tucked into cyan pants that stopped just above black boots, and an old white cravat with holes in it around his neck. The only thing that stopped you from believing he was a noble was the fact that he had some burns on his arms, slight burns on his neck and face, a bandage on his right cheek, a missing tooth, and messing blond hair that stuck out from under an old and beat up black top hat with blue goggles on it.

The man took off his hat before putting it over his heart and bowing towards the crew. "Good evening everyone." he greeted. "Hello Miss. Robin."

"Hello Sabo-san." Robin greeted with a smile.

Immediately everyone looked at Robin, then the man, then Robin again.

"You know him?" Zoro questioned, almost accusingly.

"Of coarse. When we were separated, I was sent to the Revolutionary Armies base. They helped me for a while until we met up again." Robin said before turning back to the man. "I hope Dragon-san didn't send you to ask me to come back."

"Not at all. I actually came of my own accord." the man said as he put his hat back on.

"Who are you?" Nami asked.

"Sabo!" the second voice growled.

The man sighed. "I told you to hurry. But no! The cry baby has to be a drama queen and take forever!"

Within seconds, everyone saw a flash of orange speeding towards the man. Before the flash could hit him though, the man grabbed a pipe from his back and hit the flash, sending it to the floor, and pointed it at the man who was face down on the ground.

The man on the ground had black, wavy hair, an orange shirt on with black shorts, and black combat boots. Around his left leg was a light blue pouch and around his waist were two belts, one loosely hanging on while the other was tighter and seemed to actually hold the shorts on him. On his left arm was a log pose, a red and white stripped bracelet, an elbow guard, and the bottom of a tattoo along with a red beaded necklace around his neck. A few feet away from him was a bag that looked like it had green zebra stripes and next to it was an orange cowboy hat with red beads wrapped around it and two blue medallions; one smiling mischievously, and the other frowning. Two strings were attached and connected to another wooden medallion that had the image of a bull's skull carved out of it. At the bottom of the medallion, was what looked like two pieces of bamboo with a red tassel sticking out. That hat was far too familiar.

"No way..." Nami muttered.

"Ow..." the man on the ground sounded as he started getting up.

"What is it now? Six to five? You're getting slow in your old age." The noble looking man said before chuckling.

"I'm not old! Were the same age! Hell there isn't even much of a difference! We're two months apart!" the man on the ground shouted as he got to his knees, grabbed his hat, and put it on his head before standing.

"A... Ace...?" Luffy stuttered in complete shock.

"Lu..." Ace muttered.

"H-how...? I... I'm insane... I have to be... You're dead!" Luffy shouted, completely confused.

"Luffy..." Ace whispered in shock.

With a sigh the noble looking man punched Ace again.

"Ow! Hit me again! See what happens!" Ace shouted, lifting a flaming fist to emphasize his point.

"There's you're proof that he's alive." the man said.

"What?" Ace questioned.

"The dead don't feel pain and devil fruit users lose their abilities when they die." he stated. "There for, Ace is alive."

"Oh yeah... But did you really have to hit me?" Ace asked after putting out his flames.

"Nah. I could have just pinched you. I just wanted to punch you." the man snickered causing Ace to growl. "You're acting like when we were kids, right Lu?"

Luffy didn't say anything. He sat in the middle of the deck with wide eyes, frozen and confused. After a few moments the man walked over and waved his hand in front of Luffy's eyes. Luffy's eyes never moved, he never blinked. He just kept staring at Ace. After a few seconds of the staring, Ace started feeling weird. He walked over to Luffy and just before he could touch the boys shoulder, Luffy moved away. Luffy started moving away from both men.

"No... You're lying... Please... Stop this..." Luffy muttered the tears returning to his eyes. "Go away... Ace is dead... Sabo is dead... Quit messing with me!"

"Luffy. We didn't die. We're here right now. Snap out of it!" Ace stated before grabbing Luffy's shoulder.

As soon as Ace touched Luffy, the younger flinched before freezing completely. The hand was solid. It was real. It was warm. It had the same heat that Luffy hadn't felt in two years and wanted more than anything. It was his brother. It was Ace.

"A-Ace...?" Luffy questioned, getting a nod in reply.

Luffy looked over to the man. He looked and dressed the same as what he thought an older Sabo would be. He sounded the same but his voice was deeper. He used a pipe as a weapon the same way Sabo used his. He even acted the same. Nobody could have copied Sabo this much since the boy was almost like a secret to the world.

Slowly, Luffy reached out towards the man. The man stepped closer to Luffy with a small smile and put his hand on the boy's other shoulder. Luffy looked at it and then the man it was attached to. His eyes finally stopping on those familiar dark blue eyes he hadn't seen in years.

"S-Sabo...?" Luffy questioned.

"Hey Lu." the man, Sabo, said with a smile.

Not even a second later, both men were pulled into a tight hug. After they figured out what had happened, they hugged the younger boy back. They both knew Luffy was crying but they wouldn't say anything. Like the boy said earlier. He's been alone for two years and now his brothers were back.

"How long are you going to stay?" Luffy asked quietly after a few moments.

"Dragon-san said once I found you two, I didn't have to worry about coming back. I can stay as long as you want me to." Sabo said.

"Marco said about the same. He told me he wouldn't be surprised if I didn't come back." Ace explained with a smile.

"Then..." Luffy's voice faded off before he took a deep breath and continued. "Please don't leave... I don't want to lose you guys again..."

"We'll stay as long as you want." Ace said.

"Good." Luffy said. "One more thing?"

"What?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Join my crew." Luffy said as he pulled away a little and looked his brothers in the eyes with determination.

It was quiet for a few moments before Ace and Sabo started giggling like little school girls then slowly burst into full blown laughter. When they looked at Luffy again, they saw him pouting and they started laughing more. At some point Ace fell over while clutching his stomach. Luffy and the others on deck were thoroughly confused.

"S-sorry Lu..." Sabo said between breaths. "It's the same as when we were kids. I'm not gonna let my little bro be my captain."

"Same." Ace stated as he started to sit back up.

"That's not what I meant." Luffy pouted.

Ace chuckled. "Seriously, Lu. You're acting like when we were kids. Quit pouting so much."

"What did you mean, Lu?" Sabo asked calmly.

"When we were kids we always fought for who would be captain. Then we agreed that whoever could beat the Tiger Lord would be captain." Luffy reminded.

"Yeah. None of us could do it." Ace said.

"Alone we couldn't. We beat him pretty bad when we worked together." Sabo stated.

"Exactly. Each of us are strong, but together we're stronger. What if the three of us were captains together?" Luffy questioned.

"Be co-captains huh?" Ace wondered.

"We would be together but we also don't have to fight over being captain." Luffy said with a smile.

"Sounds good to me." Sabo stated.

"But what about your crew? Shouldn't we ask them?" Ace questioned.

"Just shut up and accept the position!" Franky shouted.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all looked at the crew. Zoro had his eyes closed with his arms crossed in front of his chest smiling slightly, Nami and Robin were smiling, Usopp was hugging Chopper and Franky as the three cried, Sanji was lighting another cigarette, and Brook was laughing and getting ready to play a song. Luffy couldn't help but smile. His crew really was amazing. Now if he could just get both of his brothers to agree then it would be his dream crew.

"Fine! I accept." Ace said with a smirk.

"Yay!" Luffy shouted as he tackled Ace.

"Hey!" Ace shouted in surprise.

Sabo chuckled evilly. "Dog pile on Ace!"

"No!" Ace shouted but it was too late.

Ace watched on in horror as the crew ran at him. He tried to move but was stopped by his brothers who were smirking evilly at him.

'_Oh god... What have I gotten myself into?_' Ace thought to himself before he felt more and more weight jump onto him.

Sabo just stood there watching Ace's arm smack the deck repeatedly hoping someone would figure out it meant get off. Instead of helping, Sabo just watched and laughed with Luffy by his side. How Luffy got out just before everyone jumped on the eldest brother was a mystery but Sabo didn't really care. He watched everyone and smiled at them all.

This was going to be interesting.

**(And there you have it. I'm thinking about continuing it even though I said it would probably be a one-shot. I don't like one-shots much to be honest. Fave, follow, read Second Chance, and review. Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 2:30 P.M.**

**End time – 6:47 P.M.**


	2. Explanations

Chapter 2: Explanations

**(Hey guyz~! So two things. 1: I am not doing my homework. I'm supposed to be doing homework right now but I can't because of the second thing. 2: Blueh is great at many things including writing, threatening me, and getting me so worried about a certain character that I said I wouldn't update for a month if the man died. Easy to say I somewhat know what's happening and now have to update. By the way, if I get an 'F' in honors Chemistry *cough*again*cough* I blame all of you. Specifically you Blueh. On to the crap!)**

Once everyone had gotten off of Ace, Luffy started going on about a party and soon it was in full swing. Sanji was in the kitchen, cooking enough for an entire city. Zoro and Ace were having a drinking contest, with both tied so perfectly that they had started and finished their own mugs at the exact same time multiple times. Nami was talking to Robin about how immature the crew was while Robin just smiled. Franky and Usopp were dancing on a table while Brook played some of his songs.

During all this Sabo had been telling Luffy and Chopper about some of the islands he went to as a Revolutionary and some of the people he met along the way, even the people from Alabasta. According to what Sabo said, he had arrived at the country the day before the crew had left. After finding out he was that close to his brother, Luffy was pretty upset. As soon as Sabo noticed the change in his little brother, he started talking about when he had been stranded on an island for a week with no one to talk to accept some monkeys that acted a lot like Ace and Luffy. Hearing his name, Ace turned to Sabo curiously causing him to fall behind in the drinking contest and lose the slight lead he had gained.

Soon enough, Brook started playing his and everyone else's favorite song; Binks' Sake. When he started the melody, everyone immediately quieted down. As soon as the lyrics came in, the whole crew sang along, including Sanji who had the kitchen door open. Eventually everyone started to dance. After a few seconds, everyone started laughing when they heard two 'thump's and saw Ace and Zoro collapsed on the floor. No one knew if it was Ace's narcolepsy that had somehow passed to Zoro as well or if they were just too drunk and didn't realize until they stood.

After an hour or so, Sanji had run out of the kitchen saying the food was ready. Immediately, Luffy ran up the stairs only to be kicked back down as Sanji yelled something about ladies first. Once Nami and Robin were at the table, everyone else was allowed in. As much as he hated to admit it, even Zoro was impressed by how much food there was, especially since it took the chef a little less than two hours to make. Although, it had vanished into three black holes far faster than it was made. Not even ten minutes later, Luffy started demanding more food.

As Sanji got back to cooking, the conversations started up again. This time, though, they weren't as happy as before and more towards the curious side.

"Where were you?" Luffy asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Excuse me?" Sabo questioned politely.

"Where were you? Why didn't you come back sooner? How are you alive? How did you find us? Why didn't you at least send us a letter or something saying you were alive?" Luffy asked Sabo before looking at Ace. "How are you still alive? You died in my arms. You're heart stopped and everything. And why didn't you tell me you were alive sooner?"

Ace and Sabo looked down at the table. They had to admit, they felt like the worlds worst brothers. Especially after hearing what Luffy had said about them before.

"We really screwed up, didn't we?" Ace muttered.

"Yeah… But at least you were there. If you screwed up then how bad do you think I did?" Sabo muttered with a slight chuckle towards the end.

"You're right. You're a horrible brother." Ace said with a chuckle.

"Shut up. You shouldn't be saying that to the person that saved your ass." Sabo stated.

"Wait. What?" Luffy questioned looking very shocked, even Ace was shocked.

"I guess I should start explaining then." Sabo said.

"Yeah. How 'bout it." Zoro muttered with an annoyed tone.

"What do you want to know first?" Sabo asked, lifting his head and looking straight at Luffy.

"How did you survive? We were told your boat was blown up with you on it." Luffy questioned.

"After my boat was blown up, I fell into the water. At first I thought I was going to die because of being shot or even due to the burns. After falling in though, my thoughts changed. I couldn't move, couldn't swim, and couldn't breathe. I just remember thinking about you and Ace and how angry Ace would be before running off and crying." Sabo started only to be interrupted.

"Hey! I'm not a cry baby!" Ace shouted as he lifted his head and glared at the blond.

"_Sure_. Care to explain why you cried when we met up, when we found the ship, and after hearing Luffy's story?" Sabo questioned with a grin.

"… Shut up." Ace muttered before going silent.

"As I was saying. I couldn't help but think about how much it would have upset you guys that I died. As my vision started fading to black, I thought I saw something coming towards me. First I thought it was just the debris from the explosion, but then it started to look human. That's when I blacked out. When I woke up, I thought I was in heaven because the room was pure white with no sound. Soon enough though, I felt pain rush through my whole body and I knew I was alive. A week later, I was able to leave the room and meet my savior. You wouldn't believe how shocked I was when I found out who he was. He told me he had been watching the whole thing and couldn't let a kid die, much less his son's brother. I owe Dragon my life." Sabo explained.

"Wait! Dragon? As in Monkey D. Dragon? The Revolutionary?" Nami questioned.

Sabo smiled and nodded. "You know, he isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He's actually very kind. Cares a lot for his friends and family."

"If he cares so much for his family, then why didn't he let you go back to his shitty son? Hell why didn't he go back on his own?" Sanji asked from the kitchen.

"First of all, don't call my brother 'shitty'." Sabo said dangerously before getting to the questions. "He didn't go back because he was afraid that if anyone knew he had a son, the child would be killed immediately, no matter the age. Also, he didn't let me go back because he wanted Luffy to get stronger. In turn I was supposed to be treated as a catalyst. Using my '_death_', Luffy would get stronger so it wouldn't happen again. As it turns out, he was right. I have to admit, at first I thought it was the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Even worse than half of Luffy's ideas to be honest. But slowly it started to make sense and when I saw Luffy's bounty I understood why Dragon had hid me for so long. Speaking of your bounty, I swear Dragon and I celebrated for a week. Gonna be honest though, I don't remember half of it." Sabo said with a chuckle at the end.

"And you couldn't come back sooner why?" Ace questioned.

"Dragon kept saying it was still too early. Being at Marineford was just me taking a _long _detour back from my latest mission. When I got back, Dragon was furious with me. His top agent had gone missing for a week. He was more than a little pissed. Especially after I told him where I was." Sabo explained, shocking everyone.

"What do you mean you were at Marineford?" Ace and Luffy questioned.

Sabo sighed. "I got there about the same time as Whitebeard. I was fighting Marine after Marine and headed to the execution platform. Slowly I made my way through, making sure to stay hidden as best as possible. When I was able to see it, my hopes started rising. I didn't care if you saw me and I didn't care how angry Dragon would have gotten if one of his sons had seen me."

"Wait, 'one of his sons'?" Ace asked.

"Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I told Dragon all about how we were Luffy's brothers and he accepted it. Whenever he talks about the three of us, he calls us his sons. Almost as if he had adopted Ace and myself. I guess that would just add to our bond right?" Sabo commented.

"So I'm adopted without even being asked if that's what I wanted?" Ace questioned with a smirk.

"Pretty much. Now as I was saying. I was getting more excited with every step I made towards the platform. The only thing that made that excitement die was the fact that a ship had landed right in front of me, blocking my sight of you. Like, _right _in front of me. Ten feet to be precise. At first I questioned it, but then I saw Lu falling from the sky."

"Why'd you stop questioning it?" Ace asked, interrupting Sabo.

"Would you shut up!?" Everyone other than the brothers shouted.

"Okay! Not my fault I'm curious!" Ace shouted back.

"It's Luffy. Need I say more?" Sabo asked and continued his story after receiving a 'no' from Ace. "As I was saying before I was _rudely _interrupted _again. _When I saw Lu, I slowly started backing off. Whitebeard was there with his crew and now Lu. I figured they'd be able to handle it. And sure enough, after a while, Ace was free. Then I saw you two fighting together. I felt so happy yet… I was sad. I was happy that Ace was free and that the two of you had gotten so strong. But then I was also sad because I had missed out on so much and I couldn't be there to watch you guys get stronger. But then I realized that was in the past and I needed to think about that moment more. When I came to again, I saw you guys running passed me. Actually if you were about three feet to the left then you would have run into me." Sabo stated with a chuckle causing Ace and Luffy smack their heads into the table.

"You were that close and you didn't see him… That's just sad…" Nami stated with a sweatdrop.

"We were focusing on running away okay! We weren't trying to search for our supposedly dead brother!" Ace and Luffy shouted after lifting their heads.

"Really? A man in a top hat with goggles on it, dressed entirely in blue, and surrounded but nothing but men dressed in white didn't even make you look?" Usopp asked.

"We weren't searching for him!" Ace shouted before turning to Sabo calmly. "No offense."

"You don't care about your own brother. I see how it is." Sabo muttered only to be hit in the head by Ace. "Okay okay! Fine! It was just a joke! Now stop hitting me!"

"If you were there… Why didn't you stop Akainu? Why didn't you stop him from trying to attack Lu?" Ace asked quietly.

"I tried… but I was too far away. As soon as I saw you fighting him, I started running as fast as I could. I didn't even care about the Marines around me anymore. I was just focused on stopping your fight and getting you to leave. But as soon as I was close enough to yell at you, he made his move towards Lu and…" Sabo muttered before punching the table, leaving a dent, and growling. "I was too slow. If I had been a little faster than your '_death_' would have never happened. It was my fault you two nearly died."

Sabo stopped for a moment and took a few calming breaths before continuing. "When I came to, Ace was laying on the ground with a smile, Whitebeard was yelling at Blackbeard about how he wouldn't be the Pirate King and how One Piece does exist, and Jinbei was trying to help Luffy to escape. Shortly after, Whitebeard died, Lu was leaving on Law's ship, and Shanks had ended the war. Immediately after it was over, I ran over to Ace and tried to find some trance of a possibility he was alive. Marco looked like he was about to murder me for touching his '_dead_' brother but I just ignored him. Shanks even looked like he was about to murder me, that is, until – and I'll admit it – he saw me crying. I explained to them how I knew you and they understood immediately. Shanks had said his crew would handle everything for the funeral and I just nodded. I picked you up, got you on my back, and started taking you to Shanks' ship.

"I didn't even take three steps before I felt something warm on the center of my back, and it wasn't a liquid. It took me a second to realize what was happening but I didn't believe it. At least, not until I saw Ace's hand gain some color back and flinch slightly. I told Shanks and Marco to check on Ace for a second and they looked at me like I was crazy. Eventually they looked and saw what I had felt through my jacket and shirt. His devil fruit had started to slowly heal the wound. Small flames were forming around the edges and had been practically reaching for each other. I got him to Shanks' ship as fast as possible and laid him on one of the beds they had prepared. A week later, when Ace showed signs of waking, I left and told everyone to keep it a secret that I had been there." Sabo explained, smiling towards the end.

"How does that make you my savior?" Ace questioned.

"Because if I hadn't been there or said something about the flames, then you'd be in the ground after being buried alive. The flames were tiny, just small enough to see if you focused hard enough and just barely enough to feel. Now imagine what would have happened if a man who is practically immune to fire would have picked you up." Sabo stated.

"Touché." Ace said after a moment of thought. "But real quick, why do I have a grave?"

"There was a war to save you. It would be very questionable if, after all that and they saw you '_die_', we didn't leave a grave for you." Sabo explained.

"True enough. Still kinda weird though." Ace said, muttering the last part to himself but everyone still heard.

"Yeah it is…" Sabo commented, remembering when he heard there was a small grave on Goa for him.

"If you don't mind me interrupting, there are other questions Luffy asked." Robin commented.

"And were they again?" Ace asked.

"How'd you find us and why didn't you come sooner?" Luffy stated.

Ace sighed. "Luffy… When you go missing for two years, and are supposedly dead, it's kinda hard to find you. For a year I was stuck in a bed so I could heal. After that I was able to search all I wanted. So for the second year, I searched the entire first half of the Grand Line. I know I shouldn't have but… I was starting to lose hope. All those newspapers saying you were dead ran through my mind every day for over a month. Right as I was about to call it quits and make a grave marker for you next to Oyaji's, I saw in the paper that you were back. Immediately I went to Sabaody Archipelago and tried to find you. I've been following ever since. I only made one detour and that was to give my respects to Oyaji. That's where I ran into Sabo and we've been trying to catch up to you ever since."

A small sniffle was heard and everyone's heads turned towards Franky, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook. Upon closer inspection, everyone realized they were holding back tears.

"Are you guys okay?" Ace asked.

That's when the waterfalls started. "That's so beautiful! If you had made some kind of sign you were there, then we would have stopped for you bros! If only we knew you were there!" Franky cried.

"Hey don't worry about it. We're here now and everything's gonna be fine right?" Sabo asked as he wrapped an arm around Luffy's neck and the other arm around Ace's neck.

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted before wrapping an arm around both his brothers.

"We're back together and that's all that matters." Ace stated before playfully hitting both Sabo and Luffy in the head.

"I said stop hitting me!" Sabo shouted, chuckling at the end.

"Oh you mean like this?" Ace asked before hitting Sabo again.

"That's it! This is war!" Sabo shouted with a smirk before standing from his spot.

"Bring it on little brother!" Ace shouted with a grin as he stood as well.

"Just don't break anything…" Nami muttered with a sigh.

"No promises." Ace, Sabo, and Luffy said, all of them sporting their own grins.

And so the chaos ensued followed by a continuation of the earlier party.

**(Aaaaaaaaaaaaand done! Meh. 1,000 words under what I would have wanted but… I have a curfew. How was it? Good? Bad? Shit? Crap? Sad? Why am I listing this shit? So I hope it was good enough. At least good enough that I don't deserve a death glare. *cough*Blueh*cough* What? Oh yeah, I found out today was Haruta's birthday. Happy Birthday Haruta! Vista and Blamenco's birthdays are tomorrow and Robin is on the 6****th****. On a sadder note, the 10****th**** is the anniversary of the Great Shounen Jump Massacre. AKA the day Ace died. But honestly he didn't die either. Because, you only die if you're forgotten right? And how could we forget that piece of sexy? If it's weird for you to read that line then try being me. I have Ace, Sabo, and Luffy in my head reading as I write. And now Ace is dancing… You know the music video to 'I'm Sexy and I Know It'? Yeah he's doing the 'wiggle wiggle wiggle' part… Yeah I'm just gonna leave now… Fave, follow, keep reading, read Second Chance, and review. Bai! c(X )**

**Start time – 4:20 P.M.**

**End time – 8:20 P.M.**


	3. Revenge

Chapter 3: Revenge

**(Hey guys~! I'm back! With a chapter too! No promises as to how long it is but it's still here so no complaining. Unless it looks like it's under a thousand words. Then feel free to complain all you want, I'll most likely be doing the same. Change of subject, there is most likely going to be a change in my update schedule for next weekend and the week after. Next week I have Saturday School so that'll mess things up. The week after, I'm going to be away from internet but I'll try to find a way to still update – I'll keep writing but I don't know when I'll update then. I hope not too many things get messed up. On to the crap!)**

After Ace and Sabo answered the crews questions, they entered their mini war. The crew was nearly terrified at the show of power. Ace had gotten strong and even had new moves. Sabo, at first, seemed to only be able to dodge Ace's attacks, but after a couple dozen dodges, Sabo ran at Ace and forced the older to the defensive. After a half hour or so, Luffy started drawing a chart. When Chopper asked what Luffy was drawing, Luffy replied by saying it was a scoreboard.

About ten minutes went by before Chopper looked back to Luffy and saw all the tally marks. Chopper asked what the tally's were for and Luffy told him each tally was a hit one landed on the other. Chopper was amazed at how easily Luffy was able to see the amount of hits. When he looked at the fight, Chopper might as well have seen a blur of orange, blue, and silver.

"Whole new meaning to the term 'Red vs Blue', huh?" Franky asked, looking confusedly at the giant blur.

"Ha! It's not even that. Ace has this down." Zoro muttered.

"Sure. That's almost as believable as you being able to navigate. Sabo's obviously winning." Sanji said.

"What'd you say, dart board?" Zoro growled.

"I said you're a liar and can't navigate, baka marimo." Sanji growled in return.

Within moments, Sanji and Zoro had started fighting and Luffy's scoreboard had another battle added to it. Everyone who wasn't fighting, had given up on trying to watch the fights; one appeared as an orange blur clashing with a blue blur while the other fight appeared as a green blur fighting a black and yellow blur. Instead, they all watched Luffy and were shocked. Luffy's eyes were shooting everywhere and following every bit of the action as he easily added another tally to each of the names without looking.

After an hour, Nami decided it was enough and stopped the fights by hitting all four men on the head. In the end, there were five names on Luffy's score board, all with their own amount of tally's.

"Who won?" All four of the fighters asked in unison as they turned to Luffy.

"Nami. She hit all of you but didn't get hit once." Luffy said as he examined the board.

"Not counting her?" Zoro questioned, getting a growl from Sanji and Nami in return.

"Ace and Sabo had a score of twenty-six to twenty-four; Ace winning. Zoro and Sanji ended with a score of thirty-one to twenty-nine; Zoro being the winner." Luffy said, double checking the scores.

"WHAT!?" Sanji yelled.

"I win dart board!" Zoro shouted with triumph.

"I demand a rematch!" Sanji yelled.

"NO!" Nami yelled.

"Yes Nami-swan~!" Sanji sang.

Ace and Sabo were silent for a good amount of time as they looked between each other and Luffy. After a few moments, both of them burst out laughing. At the sudden laughter, everyone was confused. Quickly, a thought came to Luffy and he counted the scores his brothers received before laughing as well.

"What's so funny?" Chopper asked Usopp.

"No idea." The sharpshooter replied to the young reindeer.

"I-it's just like when we were kids!" Sabo stuttered in between fits of laughter.

"It's exactly the same!" Ace shouted while laughing.

"That's so weird!" Luffy laughed.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

After a few moments, Sabo's laughter had calmed into small chuckling. "When we were younger, we had a rule that we would only fight one hundred times a day. Fifty with one brother and fifty with the other. Ace and I always ended with twenty-six to twenty-four; Ace being the winner each time." Sabo explained as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Seriously!?" Usopp questioned. "One hundred fights a day!? Didn't that take forever?"

"Any fight with Luffy lasted less than a minute, sometimes less than thirty seconds. Fights between me and Sabo would usually be around a minute or more. In total it took probably two hours for us to spar." Ace informed.

"I bet if we sparred again, I would last longer." Luffy said with a grin.

"We'll see on the next island. I'd rather not have you punch a hole into the walls because of your bad aim." Sabo teased.

"I fixed that!" Luffy whined.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked.

"When we were kids, Luffy had the worst aim in the whole world! This one time, he tried to hit a boulder at least three times his size and instead ended up hitting a pole in the opposite direction!" Ace laughed.

"So let me get this straight. You couldn't hit something huge in front of you but instead hit something small behind you?" Franky asked, trying not to laugh.

Luffy chose not to say anything and instead pouted with his arms crossed in front of his chest, appearing as if he were a child again.

When seeing Luffy's face, Ace, Sabo, Franky, Usopp, and Chopper burst into laughter. They all imagined – or remembered – the image of tiny Luffy missing his target so horribly. The thought made them all laugh harder, causing Luffy to pout more.

"I-is that t-true?" Usopp asked through his laughter.

"C-completely!" Sabo shouted as he tried to regain his breath.

"It's not funny!" Luffy shouted, a light blush of embarrassment crossing his cheeks.

"Yes it is!" Ace yelled, laughing harder.

"It sounds pretty funny, Luffy-bro!" Franky shouted, trying to calm his laughter but failing horribly.

"It's alright Luffy-san. They don't mean if hurtfully, I'm sure." Brook said as he put his hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"Thanks Brook." Luffy said with a smile.

"Oh and this one time, Lu and I were playing Truth or Dare-" Ace started.

Seeing where that story was going, Luffy's eyes widen and a bright red blush covered his face. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Luffy shouted.

"Oh now I have to know." Sanji said with a smirk.

"He chose dare-"

"Shut up! Don't talk about that!" Luffy shouted, cutting off Ace as his blush grew brighter.

Choosing to ignore the youngest of the three brothers, Ace continued. "I dared him to steal one of Makino's dresses and run around the village with it on! The trick was, he wasn't allowed to be caught by her at all. When he was looking through her closest, she started heading upstairs so he was running out of time. In his hurry, he ended up grabbing the most revealing one! He had to wear it all day!" Ace said, laughing at the end.

At the end of the story, Luffy's face was redder than a tomato. "You promised you would never mention that day…" Luffy muttered, looking almost as if he was about to cry.

"When did that happen?" Sabo asked.

"A few years after you 'died'. We were bored and didn't know what to do. We ended up hearing about this game called 'Truth or Dare' and after an hour, it escalated into that." Ace explained.

"Fine. If we're talking about some of my worst moments then how about we talk about some of yours Ace." Luffy said.

"You wouldn't dare." Ace said as he looked at his little brother in shock.

"You just shared one of my most embarrassing, and worst, moments! Like hell I wouldn't talk about yours!" Luffy shouted, almost angrily.

"Luffy…" Sabo whispered in shock.

In all the years they knew each other, Luffy wasn't one to get angry easily. The only thing Sabo could think about as a decent reason for the boy being this mad, was if the dare had truly been horrible. In the end, Sabo just wished he could have been there to see it.

"For a year, I heard you at night calling out random things. One night I was paying attention and heard all of it. For a year, you were having weird dreams about-" Luffy shouted.

"Shut up! Look! I'm sorry about what I said and what I made you do. But that's too far! That's a major secret Lu." Ace said, cutting off Luffy.

"Like how that whole game was supposed to be!? We both promised never to mention that game and yet you're saying it with ease!" Luffy shouted, causing Ace's eyes to widen before turning sad and looking at the deck below him.

"You guys have really been through a lot, huh?" Usopp asked.

"Growing up in a forest filled with massive animals, and having a trouble magnet as your little brother puts you through a lot." Ace mumbled, still trying to figure out how to make it up to the boy.

Sabo sighed. He didn't like when his happy-go-lucky brothers were upset. Soon enough, Ace and Luffy both sported a well sized bump on the top of their heads, courtesy of Sabo.

"You're both idiots…" The blond muttered. "Just go back to always being annoyingly happy. Hell, I'll even go for Ace being a rude asshole again. Ace, stop being gloomy. Luffy, stop being angry over little things."

"Like the dress…" Ace whispered to himself with a small chuckle.

"Shut it!" Sabo yelled, giving Ace another hit on the head.

"Sorry…" Ace apologized as he cradled the large bumps.

"Good. Luffy." Sabo started as he turned to his younger brother. "We'll give you more meat if you calm down."

"I was made fun of for a year because of that dare! After he left, people were still laughing at me! Extra meat does not make up for that!" Luffy shouted.

Everyone looked at Luffy with wide eyes. The boy had just refused meat. _Meat_. Immediately, they all believed the world was ending. Then a question ran through everyone's minds; how bad was the dress?

"Why are you so upset about it? It couldn't have been that bad." Zoro questioned.

Immediately, Zoro regretted what he said when he saw Luffy slowly turning towards him. Not even a second later, Zoro and Luffy were in the womens quarters.

"You don't think…" Ace muttered.

"He wouldn't… right?" Nami questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Chopper asked innocently.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!" Zoro yelled from inside the girls room.

Not even a minute later, Zoro was sent flying out the door and crashing into the deck. When everyone got over their shock, all their eyes widened. Zoro was wearing one of Nami's very short miniskirts and a tight shirt with a pair of heels. He had light green eye shadow on along with mascara, a light amount of blush, and was even wearing bright red lipstick.

"Now you know how bad it was!" Luffy shouted from the railing.

Normally everyone would have been laughing at Zoro, or beating him up since he was wearing one of Nami's favorite shirts and all-time favorite skirt. But nobody reacted in such a way, due to the fact that Luffy was absolutely livid about it.

"L-Luffy…" Ace stuttered, trying to calm said boy. "I'm sorry for making you do that. I'll do anything to make it up to you."

Immediately, Luffy anger lifted as he turned mischievously towards Ace. Ace instantly regretted what he had just said. Soon enough, there was a rubbery arm wrapping itself around Ace's waist and pulling him towards the youngest brother and into the girls room. After the older was in the room, the door was slammed shut.

A few minutes later, Luffy had reopened the door and was walking out with a large smile on his face.

"Luffy? What happened?" Sabo asked worriedly.

"Oh nothing." Luffy sang innocently. "You'll see soon though."

"If it was nothing than what is there to see…?" Usopp questioned quietly.

"If he says it's nothing, than it's bad…" Sabo informed.

"How bad?" Chopper asked.

"ACE!" Luffy shouted back at the girls room.

"Pretty bad…" Sabo said with more worry.

"I'M NOT DOING THIS!" Ace yelled from inside the room.

"Too late! You already agreed to it now get out here!" Luffy yelled.

"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!" Ace shouted.

"Luffy. What'd you do?" Sabo questioned.

"Follow me. I need help getting him out anyways." Luffy said as he started heading back to the room with Sabo following.

When the two got to the room, Sabo was shocked. The place was covered in clothes and make-up was splattered everywhere. Then he noticed the other person in the room besides his little brother. When he realized who it was, Sabo's eyes widened even more.

Ace sat in the corner with his hair tied up into a small pony tail in the back with a tropical flower pin in it. He was wearing a black bikini top and black short shorts. He even had on a pair of earrings that matched his red beaded necklace perfectly. He had his trademark hat hanging off his back, his usual elbow guard on his left elbow, and one of his belts hanging on his waist. He even had on black boots that went just below the knee.

Then Sabo noticed all the make-up. Ace had the tattoo on his arm covered and replaced with the name 'ANNE' in the same font. He had a light layer of blush on, which made the freckles stand out more somehow. He had dark eye shadow on, giving him a smoky eye, along with fake eyelashes and mascara. Even a light layer of lip gloss on.

"He has to be dressed like that for the next twenty-four hours." Luffy said with a mischievous grin.

"How did you do all that…?" Sabo questioned, completely shocked.

"Nami used to spend hours in the bathroom so one day I asked her and she gave me the full idea of how to put on that stuff. It was a lot easier since, as soon as I got him in here, he had a fit and passed out." Luffy explained.

Sabo was silent for a few moments as he took it all in. "You're a genius…" Sabo muttered.

"Not! He's evil! Look at me Sabo! This is not supposed to be happening!" Ace shouted.

"How'd you get the earrings?" Sabo asked Luffy, ignoring Ace completely.

"I found a needle and infused it with Haki. Ace's ears are officially pierced." Luffy said with an innocent smile.

"See! When did my sweet and innocent little brother become a devil!?" Ace cried.

"When was he innocent?" Sabo asked.

"We're pirates. Before that we were thieves. The innocent side went away when I met Shanks!" Luffy informed.

"…I'm not going out there." Ace stated, choosing to change the subject.

"Yes you are." Luffy said.

"Not!" Ace yelled.

"You said you'd do anything to make it up to him. You have to." Sabo said.

"Me and my big mouth…" Ace muttered before sighing and giving in.

Once they stepped out of the room, all eyes were on Ace. The men wanted to laugh but didn't, knowing far too well how strong the fire user was. The women were a slightly different story though.

"Are those my bikini top and short shorts!?" Nami shouted.

"I believe those are my boots and earrings…" Robin muttered.

"Who's the hair pin belong to?" Usopp asked. "I've never seen it before."

"Not me." Both Robin and Nami said at the same time.

"It's a small flower I found on the last island attached to a bobby pin." Luffy stated happily.

"You made it?" Sabo questioned, staring intensively at the pin.

"Yup." Luffy said with a smile before it turned into an evil grin. "Anything for revenge."

Immediately, everyone took a step, or more, away from Luffy.

"Who are you and what have you done to our brother?" Ace and Sabo asked in unison.

Luffy just smiled innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Luffy practically sang before turning to Sanji. "Sanji! Meat!"

Immediately, Sanji was gone. He wasn't stupid enough to anger the boy at the moment and end up like Ace and Zoro. He cooked the meat as fast as possible and served it with incredible speed.

"Yes!" Luffy shouted before eating all of it.

"You know how some say certain people make you act different?" Sabo whispered to Ace.

"Yeah? What about it?" Ace whispered back.

"I think that's what's happening to him…" Sabo said.

"So… You're blaming this on us?" Ace asked quietly.

"Basically." Sabo commented.

"No arguments here." Ace stated. "I'm going to take a nap. I want today and the next twenty-four hours to be over with…"

"Agreed." Sabo said as he started walking down the stairs and towards Franky.

Once the two were standing in front of the shipwright, they asked where they were expected to sleep. Soon enough, both of them had their own bunks in the mens quarters. Both, Ace and Sabo, thanked the cyborg before drifting off into the land of dreams. But before they fell asleep they both thought the same thing.

'_We have such a weird family._'

**(Aaaaaaaaaaand done! I actually expected this to take a completely different turn. Oh well. Hope it wasn't too weird. Ace's outfit was actually from a pic I found on google images. Sorry for the major OOC-ness in Luffy. I couldn't help it XD Now that I think about it, I kinda made Lu act like Allen from D. Gray-man when he's gambling. 'Anything for revenge.' compared to 'Anything to win'. I imagine Luffy having that same face. Also, does anyone want this to be an AceLu? It wouldn't be too weird. I think the furthest they would get is a kiss. It can be since it's still early. Tell me in the reviews what you think. Well. I'll see you guys tomorrow/later today in Memories of the Past! Fave, follow, read my other stuff, and review. Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 8:30 P.M.**

**End time – 1:00 A.M.**


	4. Scars, Lunch, and the Picture

Chapter 4: Scars, Lunch, and the Picture

**(Hey guyz~! So I'm in my mom's truck for the next four hours. Yay! More time to write. For those of you who don't know, I got into a mild accident yesterday and hit my head pretty hard. If there's any mess ups that I didn't catch, please don't be upset and just tell me kindly. On to the crap!)**

Ace was laying in his bunk peacefully. The night before, he thought the beds wouldn't be comfortable at all. But now he knew he had been wrong. He owed it to the Shipwright for making them so damn soft. He was right on the edge of waking up when he heard some clicking.

Ace slowly opened his sleep filled eyes and saw a red, blue, and black blur. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and finally saw who it was. The blurry figure had been his little brother, Luffy, with a camera. When he saw the boy run out of the room giggling he was curious as to why.

Then he remembered the night before and looked at how he was dressed. Ace was still dressed as a girl. At that moment, he realized why Luffy had the camera and was giggling like a mad man. He shot out of bed immediately and ran out of the room, already forgetting how he was dressed.

"LUFFY! GIVE ME THAT CAMERA!" Ace shouted before running around the ship to find said boy.

Finally, Ace had ran into the kitchen where he had seen both of his brothers. Immediately, Sabo burst into laughter while Luffy tried to hide behind the blonde. Ace glared at the blond before yelling at him.

"Dude! Do you realize how funny you look? You're trying to look furious but you have make up smudged all over your face!" Sabo said before laughing even more.

Instantly, Ace's face was red with embarrassment as he ran over to the sink to wash off the make-up. When it was all gone, he went back to his brothers who were staring at the picture of him. He looked like he had been hit in the face by a make-up cover ugly stick. The lip gloss had been spread from his lips to his cheek, almost his ear. The eye shadow had smudged around his eyes making him look like he had two horrible black eyes. The fake eyelashes had even come off and were either on his cheek or on his forehead. He even had some dried drool coming out of his mouth and towards his chin.

"You were even snoring!" Luffy laughed when he saw his oldest brothers shocked look.

"You looked comfortable. I didn't want to wake you, _Sleeping Beauty_." Sabo teased before laughing loudly.

"Shut the hell up you bastards!" Ace shouted before tackling the blond and younger raven.

After a few minutes, the blond and younger raven were sporting a few fresh burn marks. Sabo was just laughing it off, saying something about a few more marks didn't matter. Luffy, on the other hand, was blowing on the new burn mark on his arm, trying to cool it off. Once the smell of burning rubber filled the room, the three brothers burst out on deck, gasping for clean air.

"Never do that again!" Sabo yelled at Ace.

"Don't dress me up like a god damn doll! Maybe then I won't have to burn someone!" Ace yelled back.

"I didn't do it! Lu did! If you wanna beat him up, fine! Just don't get me involved! I hate the smell of burning rubber!" Sabo shouted.

"So do I!" Ace shouted.

"Then don't burn his ass! Punch him like you used to idiot!" Sabo argued.

"SHUT UP!" Nami yelled as she punched both of them.

As soon as Luffy started laughing at his brothers, Nami punched him in the head as well.

"Ow! How did that hurt!?" Ace and Luffy shouted in unison.

"Haki?" Sabo questioned as he rubbed the forming bump on his head.

"Nami doesn't know Haki though…" Chopper commented as he went to look over Sabo's fresh burns and bump.

"Nami-swan is so great~!" Sanji sang.

"Che. Love cook…" Zoro muttered.

"What was that marimo!?" Sanji yelled.

"STOP!" Nami shouted, her voice echoing over the entire ship giving everyone except Robin, Sanji, and Zoro the chills.

"Yes ma'am." Most of the men whispered.

"Ace. Go get actual clothes on." Nami ordered.

"I'd be happy to." Ace said before running back to the mens quarters.

"Chopper. Take care of Sabo's and Luffy's wounds." Nami said as she turned towards the young doctor.

"It isn't necessary. I'll be fine." Sabo stated.

"You're hurt. I need to take care of it. What if you get an infection? What if the burns are worse than you think?" Chopper said, listing all of the possibilities.

"Chopper." Sabo said calmly, cutting off the small reindeer. "Can I talk to you in private?"

"A-alright." Chopper said nervously as he led the blond to the infirmary.

"Sanji. Start making breakfast." Nami ordered after the small doctor and blond co-captain had left.

"Hai! Nami-swan~!" Sanji sang as his eyes turned into hearts and he ran into the kitchen with noodle-like legs.

"The rest of you boys. Clean up whatever mess they made and figure out how to get rid of the burning rubber smell." Nami commanded.

"Yes ma'am." Usopp, Franky, and Brook said while Zoro just grunted.

"Luffy. Check with Chopper to see if it's okay for you to bathe. Get rid of that smell." Nami ordered.

"Okay!" Luffy said before running to the infirmary.

Nami sighed as she sat down in one of the lawn chairs. "We need to find an island soon… I don't think I can handle all three of them in one spot for too much longer."

Robin giggled as she sat down in the lawn chair next to the navigator. "They truly are Luffy's brothers."

"Yeah. Pretty obvious now, isn't it?" Nami asked.

"At least he has them back." Robin stated.

"True." Nami said with a small smile.

-x-x-x-

When Chopper and Sabo walked into the infirmary, Chopper forced Sabo to sit on the bed as the young reindeer gave the new co-captain a small checkup. When the doctor wanted the blond to lift his shirt to check for any wounds, the blond refused. Chopper tried to get him to reason but Sabo only refused, saying that some of his scars aren't good for the young doctor to see.

"What do you mean? I'm a doctor! I've seen scars before. They can't be too bad." Chopper stated.

"You haven't seen scars like mine, I'm sure." Sabo said. "I don't want you to worry is all."

"If they're as bad as you make them sound, than I'm already worried." Chopper informed.

"Trust me. They're far worse." Sabo said sadly as he looked away.

"Please. Let me see them. I just want to know if they were at least taken care of properly." Chopper begged.

"No. If you see them, then everyone else will find out. I don't need Luffy to worry or Ace to go on a rampage." Sabo stated, looking the reindeer in the eyes.

"I won't tell anyone unless you want me to. I promise." Chopper said.

After a few moments of thinking it over, Sabo sighed. "Alright. But you can't tell anyone what you see. Not even my brothers."

"Understood." Chopper nodded.

Sabo took a deep breath before taking off his coat, cravat, and shirt. Immediately Chopper saw every scar. His eyes were wide and slowly he raised a hoof to his mouth. He was shocked at the amount of scars that covered the blonds chest, stomach, and arms. Even the few scars that crept to his neck and face.

"I warned you…" Sabo said quietly.

"I… I didn't think it would be this bad…" Chopper said softly as he stepped closer to the blond and put his hoof on one of the scars that ran over the blonds heart.

"Almost all of them have nearly killed me. But so is the life of a revolutionary. Twelve years of fighting causes this." Sabo explained.

There was silence for a few moments as Chopper tried to figure out what to say. What to ask. He had so many questions but didn't know which ones were still a touchy subject. As he was about to ask his first question, he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Chopper?" Luffy's voice said from the other side of the door as it slowly started to open.

"Luffy! Don't come in!" Chopper shouted hurriedly as he ran to the door and closed it again.

"Okay?" Luffy said slowly.

"What do you want, Lu?" Sabo asked calmly.

"Nami wanted to know if it was alright for me to take a bath. She said I stink…" Luffy said through the door, muttering the last part and sounding as if he was pouting.

"Considering you're rubber and Ace just burned you, I can understand why." Sabo muttered.

"I'll check and see." Chopper said before quickly opening the door, running out, and quickly closing it again.

After a few minutes of looking over the small burns, Chopper had said it was fine for Luffy to bathe. Once the youngest captain had left, the young doctor took a deep breath of fresh air and went back into the infirmary. Immediately, he saw Sabo laid out on the bed and looking out the small window. When the blond looked at the doctor, he smiled.

Slowly the young reindeer walked over to the blond and looked over the scars again. "Which one hurt the most…?" the small doctor asked quietly.

Sabo thought for a moment before replying. "Probably… Either the attack from the Celestial Dragon when I was ten years old or the gash over my ribs, lungs, and heart. Both hurt like hell so it's hard to decide between the two." Sabo said slowly as he felt the largest scar that ran from one side of his chest to the other.

"Attack from the Celestial Dragon?" Chopper questioned.

"Lu and I explained it earlier. I tried to leave our island and ran into a Celestial Dragon who shot at me. My boat caught fire and burned me. When he shot again he missed me but hit my boat again and destroyed it. When I fell overboard, I was so injured I could barely move. I thought I was going to drown but instead, Dragon saved me." Sabo explained.

"You're lucky he was there…" Chopper muttered.

"My luck is endless apparently." Sabo chuckled. 

"If you had so much luck then why do you have so many scars?!" Chopper shouted.

Sabo was quiet as he sat up and looked at the small doctor. "I know that it may seem I'm lying about my luck, but think about it this way. If I was truly unlucky, I would be dead right now and I would never have found my brothers. You have to think of the positives and not the negatives." Sabo said calmly.

Chopper thought about it and almost immediately saw Sabo in a new light. For the next half hour, Chopper would ask Sabo about a certain scar and the blond would tell how it happened. Chopper still wasn't happy with the number of scars but after finding out how the blond had gotten them, he couldn't help but smile. A majority of the marks were due to the blond protecting his friends.

-x-x-x-

By the time Luffy was out of the bath, Ace was done changing and removing excess makeup, Sabo and Chopper were done with their conversations, and the other men had cleaned the dining room and gotten rid of the smell, breakfast was ready. Everyone was now at the table and eating their portions, except Luffy who had chosen to steal everyone else's food as well.

When Luffy reached for Ace's food, the fire-user put a flaming fist just in front of the rubber hand. "Try and you burn. Again." Ace threatened, not taking his eyes off his food.

"But Ace!" Luffy whined. "I'm still hungry!"

"I don't care! Don't steal my food!" Ace said as he put out the fire and punched Luffy in the head.

"Ow! Ace! That's mean!" Luffy complained as he held his head.

"Luffy." Sabo called as he held up a piece of meat.

"Yay!" Luffy cheered as he stole the food. "Thanks Sabo!"

"You're too soft Sabo. Keep that up and you'll starve." Ace commented.

"Or not. Sanji-kun. Do you mind making a little more?" Sabo asked kindly.

"Sure." Sanji said before going back to the kitchen.

"Thank you." Sabo said before smirking at Ace.

Ace was speechless as he practically glared at his brother. "I will never know how you can get people to listen to you so easily…"

"Give them a real reason and people will listen without a second thought." Luffy commented.

"How do you know that, Lu?" Sabo asked.

"When I was on Amazon Lily, almost all of the girls listened to me because they thought I was funny. Being the only guy there and being such close friends with the princess helped as well." Luffy stated.

"Amazon Lily!?" Ace, Sabo, and Sanji shouted.

"You were in heaven without me!?" Sanji complained.

"How did you get there!?" Ace and Sabo questioned.

"Bartholomew Kuma sent me there. I even trained there for a while." Luffy said, ignoring Sanji's comment.

"Damn it! We looked everywhere _but _there!" Ace shouted as he slapped his forehead in annoyance.

"Why were you so lucky!? I was sent to the wrong Maiden Island! I was sent to an island filled with nothing but transvestites and you get gorgeous women!? This isn't fair!" Sanji shouted.

"Wait… You were sent to an island of transvestites? Do you know Ivankov?" Sabo asked nicely.

"_Never _say that name again!" Sanji shouted before looking like he was about to be sick.

"Oh! Iva-chan! He was really nice! Kinda weird looking but nice!" Luffy said happily as Sanji ducked under the counter and got sick.

"Che. Stupid cook…" Zoro muttered.

"Damn you… Marimo…" Sanji muttered between gasps of air.

"I don't get it. Why don't you like Iva-chan, Sanji?" Luffy asked causing said cook to get sick again.

"That's just stupid…" Usopp muttered.

"Pathetic really…" Robin mumbled into her book.

"Robin… chwan…" Sanji muttered sadly.

"Give it up man." Ace said as he stood up from the table and walked over to Sanji.

Once there, he saw a large pile of vomit and chose to disintegrate it. Ace snapped his fingers as a white hot flame erupted on the pile and caused it to disappear. Carefully, he picked up the cook and took him to the infirmary to lay him down, telling the crew to open the windows as he walked by.

After the chef was laid down in the infirmary, Ace had decided to take the mans role for a short time. When he got back to the kitchen he took a look around and had to admit he was impressed. The kitchen was set up perfectly, nothing out of place in the slightest. He was sure the chefs drama would have moved something but was proven wrong.

He went to the fridge to grab some meat but saw there was a lock on it. "Anyone know the combo?" Ace asked the crew.

"Yeah." Nami said as she walked over and whispered to Ace. "Seven. Three. Two. Six."

"Thanks." Ace said as he put in the combo. "Why'd you whisper it?"

"Only Sanji, Robin, and I are allowed to know. Everyone else would have told Luffy and we don't need him sleep eating again." Nami explained.

"Sleep eating?" Ace questioned with a sweatdrop.

"After we fought CP-9, he was unconscious for probably a week and during that time he learned how to eat and sleep at the same time. He sleepwalks sometimes and tries to eat at night." Nami informed with a sweatdrop of her own.

"You've got to be kidding me… I guess that's Lu for ya…" Ace sighed as he opened the fridge and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Holy shit..."

"Yeah… We have a lot of food..." Nami muttered.

"Ace! Are you gonna cook like when we were kids?" Luffy asked.

"I can try." Ace said as he grabbed some ingredients.

"Want some help?" Sabo asked.

"I think I've got this. Thanks anyway." Ace said with a smile.

"What about me? Can I help?" Luffy asked.

"No." Ace and Sabo said in unison.

"Aw! Come on! Please!" Luffy begged.

"No!" Everyone in the room said.

"Fine." Luffy pouted.

"Hey do you guys have any crocodile meat?" Ace asked as he looked through all the meat in the fridge.

"I don't believe so. Why would you ask, Ace-san?" Brook asked.

"Dude. You ever tried it?" Sabo questioned.

"Not at all." Brook stated.

"Anyone? Has anyone ever tried crocodile meat, other than Lu?" Ace asked.

"No." Everyone said slowly.

"You have been missing out." Ace muttered as he slowly shook his head. "What about boar?"

"We have ham, bacon, and sausages." Usopp stated.

"Not that kind! Actual boar! Not pig!" Luffy yelled.

"I would say no." Nami said.

"Sanji-kun is the only one who knows what's in there." Robin said.

"Can one of you ladies please ask him?" Sabo asked kindly.

"Of course." Nami said before going to the infirmary.

"Wanna see if they have monkey?" Ace asked Sabo.

Sabo thought for a moment before shrugging. "Sure."

Just as they were about to look, Nami came back. "He says there's some alligator and boar."

"No to the alligator. That stuff is gross." Ace said with a shiver running down his spine.

"What's the difference?" Nami questioned.

"Many things… Many, _many _things…" Luffy said as he stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Wait… Luffy doesn't like a type of food!?" Usopp shouted.

"That's new." Zoro commented.

"Alligator's gross! Crocodile tastes like chicken and crab while alligator… A mix between rubber and raw fish." Luffy stated as he, Ace, and Sabo all felt a shiver run through them.

"Never making that mistake again." Sabo said.

"Oh yeah." Ace agreed.

There were a few moments of silence before Sabo chose to break it. "So… Did he say where the boar was?"

"Oh yeah! In the far back towards the right." Nami said.

"Thanks." Sabo said before going into the massive fridge and grabbing the meat.

"What are you gonna make?" Luffy asked curiously as he sat at the counter.

"Don't know. I have to see what we have first." Ace said.

"Here." Sabo said as he put a stack of boar meat next to the stove.

"Hm… Not fresh off the bone. That's going to take some flavor away…" Ace muttered.

"What?" Luffy whined.

"I'm guessing he's never cooked boar before?" Sabo asked.

"Not as far as we know." Usopp said.

"And he almost ruined good meat… What kind of chef is that?" Ace muttered with annoyance.

"At least I'm not the only one who thinks he's a bad cook." Zoro commented with a small smirk.

"Let's see…" Ace mumbled as he looked at what was in front of him. "How about wild boar chops with citrus zest, shallots, and mustard cream sauce?"

"Ace…? Is that really you?" Sabo questioned with slightly widened eyes.

"Yeah why?" Ace asked.

"You usually just cook it and done! What's with this!?" Luffy questioned with wide eyes.

"My best friends on the Moby Dick were the first mate and the head chef. Easy to say I learned how to cook. I gained a bit of respect towards food…" Ace said, muttering the last part to himself.

"It actually sounds pretty good. Would you be able to make it?" Robin asked.

"Sure. It should be done by lunch." Ace said as he started cooking.

Having nothing better to do at the moment, Sabo and Luffy chose to gape at their brother in awe as he prepared the marinade. They watched as his hands shot around and grabbed what was needed. At some point he even started muttering the ingredients to himself. With each ingredient said, he'd put in the exact amount needed.

"Kosher salt. Crushed white peppercorn. Dry mustard. Dried thyme. Dried oregano. Ground ginger. Freshly grated nutmeg. Ground cloves. Ground allspice. Cayenne pepper. Juniper berries. And one bay leaf." Ace listed to himself before putting said spices into a spice grinder.

Once the spices where ground and mixed properly, Ace sprinkled enough of it onto each side of the chops, giving them a nice coat. After rubbing it on all of the pieces of meat, he put them in the fridge and set a timer for four hours.

"Now we wait for the marinade to set in and give the meat a bit of a stronger taste. In about four hours I can actually cook it and make the sauce. After that it's done." Ace said to himself before looking at his brothers. "What?"

Sabo and Luffy's jaws were hanging open – Luffy's jaw was actually touching the floor. Both stared at the older raven with shock and awe. After some time, they finally snapped out of it.

"Who are you and what have you done to Ace?" Sabo and Luffy said in unison.

"Deja vu?" Franky whispered.

"I told you. I used to hang out in the kitchen a lot. Thatch always said what he was doing and it became a bad habit. Eventually he yelled at me to be useful for once and I tried it. I messed up pretty badly… I tried listing what I needed while doing it and got it right. It's just the way I cook." Ace explained, ignoring Frankys comment.

"If it tastes good, we might have to replace Sanji." Nami said with a small giggle.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Sanji screamed from the infirmary, having heard only his name and the word 'replace' in the same sentence.

"He sounds like you just killed him…" Usopp commented, slightly worried about the blond chef.

"Anyways… I couldn't do that. Even if I do know how to cook, I'd rather help instead of take over." Ace said with an honest smile, choosing to avoid the word 'replace'.

"So now we wait, correct?" Brook asked.

"Yes. For four hours." Ace said.

"What!? That's too long!" Luffy whined.

"Shut up or else I make it five. Technically it's supposed to sit for four to five hours. If it waits for five hours than it'll have more flavor." Ace informed.

"Never mind. Make it four." Luffy said.

"You make it sound so good… I can hardly wait." Sabo said with a smile.

"Four hours." Ace reminded.

-x-x-x-

Much to everyone's surprise, the four hours had gone by fairly fast. They had all been talking about random conversations; how they all met, some of the stranger things that have happened to them, and what they did during their two years apart. Eventually though, they started to talk about Luffy and it slowly turned into all of the stupid things the young raven had done; including being eaten by a crocodile before eating it for dinner. At some point during the conversation, Sanji and Chopper had come out of the infirmary and joined in the chatter.

When the timer went off, a few people jumped from their seats either out of surprise or happiness that the food would be done soon. Ace couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Luffy already at the counter waiting for him. He had to admit though, he was surprised to see Sanji next to the raven and not yelling at him about using his kitchen.

Quickly, Ace pulled the boar out of the fridge and checked all of the pieces, deeming them good enough to cook. He went to the oven and turned it to three hundred degrees for preheat. After that he put the pieces of meat in a pan with melted butter and sautéed them until they were brown on both sides. Once that was done, he placed the chops into the oven and set the timer for fifteen minutes.

"Next is the sauce." Ace said to himself again as he gathered all the ingredients and listed them to himself aloud. "Lemon zest and orange zest. Red wine vinegar. Red wine. Honey. Cream. Dijon-style mustard. And then some butter."

Quickly, Ace placed the citrus zest, shallots, vinegar, wine, and honey in a small saucepan and put it over a medium-high heat until only a small amount remained. Then he added the cream and mustard and reduced it to half. Just before the timer went off, he swirled the pans contents with some butter.

When the timer went off, Ace grabbed the chops and put them on the counter – smacking Luffy's hand away when the younger raven reached for it – before straining the sauce and pouring it over the chops. Quickly, he grabbed a bottle of Petite Sirah and poured it into two glasses before adding a few hints of pepper and spice.

Once finished, Ace served the meat and gave the two girls the glasses of wine. "Bon appetit."

"This smells amazing!" Nami complemented.

"Thank you, but it means nothing if it doesn't taste good." Ace said with a smile.

"Dis ish great!" Luffy shouted with his mouth full.

"Thanks Lu." Ace said. "By the way, swallow before speaking!"

Immediately, Luffy had swallowed everything in his mouth and grinned. "That was great! Is there more?"

Ace had to let out a chuckle. "I knew you'd ask. Yes there is."

Before Ace could make a move towards the pan, Luffy was up and grabbing more. Nearly grabbing all of it but was stopped when Ace yelled at him not to. At first he was upset, but then he realized it was smart not to get into another fight with the fire-user. That meant another bath.

"How'd you learn how to make this?" Sanji asked between bites.

"My friend was a chef and practically forced me to learn it." Ace said. "Is it okay?"

"'Okay'? Dude this is amazing! How come you couldn't do this when we were ten!?" Sabo questioned.

"That was twelve years ago!" Ace shouted.

"So?" Sabo asked.

"I think Sanji-kun might have some challenge now." Nami teased playfully.

"It's not that good." Ace said, getting a little embarrassed now.

"Wait! Is that why I heard my name and the word 'replace' in the same sentence!?" Sanji questioned with shock and slight fear.

"Yeah. Didn't you know? We're getting a new cook. We don't need you." Zoro said with a smirk.

"Shut it Marimo!" Sanji yelled.

"Oh! I just remembered something!" Luffy shouted, stopping the would-be fight and catching everyone's attention.

"And that would be?" Sabo pressed on.

"Right before I left home, Makino gave me a picture of the three of us right after we became brothers! She wanted me to show it to Ace when I saw him again but he left before I could. Now that you guys are here, I can show it to you." Luffy said happily.

"Go and get it then!" Ace said excitedly.

"I want to see you guys as kids!" Usopp and Chopper said happily.

"I doubt they've changed too much. Especially Luffy." Sanji said as he lit a fresh cigarette.

"I think it'd be kind of cute." Nami said, Robin nodding in agreement next to her.

"SUPER! We get to see the bros as kids? I'm not missing that!" Franky shouted excitedly.

"Yohohohoho! I can't wait! Please hurry, Luffy-san!" Brook laughed.

"Okay! I'll be right back." Luffy said excitedly before running out the door.

Quickly, Luffy ran to the mens quarters and started searching through all of his items. First under his pillow, even in between the mattress and the frame itself. Then he searched through his locker and all of the others. After about ten minutes, he had found the picture in perfect condition with barely any scratches on the frame or glass. He stared at the picture for a few moments and got even happier.

"I can't believe it actually happened. This is too good to be true. If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up!" Luffy whispered excitedly to himself.

Soon enough, Luffy had ran out of the room and started to head back towards the dining room. The door was slightly open so all conversations could be heard. When he had gotten close enough, one conversation stood out more than anything.

"All I know is that he's extremely annoying." That was Nami's voice.

"I totally agree!" Usopp too?

"So he's always like this?" Now Ace?

"Pretty much." Sanji replied, sounding annoyed.

"I don't see how he does anything." Sabo added.

"He doesn't! He never does anything! We could be in a storm and he just keeps doing that!" Nami yelled, sounding angry.

"He's so stupid and annoying." Sanji said, nearly growling.

"I figured as much. If he was like this all the time, I would have snapped long ago." Ace said.

With each comment his friends and brothers made, Luffy felt more betrayal. He didn't want to accept it, but part of him believed they were talking about him. Slowly he started backing away from the door, a small stream of salty water fell from his eye, down his cheek and off his chin. When he heard the small drop hit something, he looked down into his hands and saw the picture. The three of them had always been so happy together, what changed?

Without a second thought, Luffy threw the picture at the ground and ran off into the deepest part of Sunny.

-x-x-x-

After Luffy had left, everyone was excited to see the picture. Everyone except Zoro who had fallen asleep almost immediately after the fight was stopped. Everyone was staring at the green haired man either curiously or with annoyance.

"Is he narcoleptic or something?" Ace asked curiously.

"That's rich coming from you." Sabo said.

"Hey at least I know it!" Ace argued.

"He's either asleep or training. I've never had the chance to ask him." Chopper stated.

"All he does is sleep, train, and complain! When he is awake, and not training or complaining, he's too busy fighting or getting lost!" Nami yelled with frustration.

"Maybe he's tired from training and fighting?" Sabo asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that he's extremely annoying." Nami said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I totally agree!" Usopp shouted.

"So he's always like this?" Ace asked as he looked at the green haired man again.

"Pretty much." Sanji said, annoyance dripping off his words.

"I don't see how he does anything." Sabo stated, looking at the green haired man as well.

"He doesn't! He never does anything! We could be in a storm and he just keeps doing that!" Nami yelled angrily as she gestured towards the sleeping first mate.

"He's so stupid and annoying." Sanji nearly growled.

"I figured as much. If he was like this all the time, I would have snapped long ago." Ace said.

After a few moments, they all heard glass shattering outside the room. Quickly, Ace and Sabo ran to the door only to find the edge of Luffys shirt disappearing behind a door. When they looked down to see what broke, they saw a picture with a simple wooden frame.

The picture was of the three of them when they were kids, all wearing the captains jackets that Makino had made for them. Ace was to the far right with his hand on his hip, wearing an orange t-shirt, brown pants, a lime green sash around his waist and a captains jacket. His jacket was black with a gold trim around the edges and a collar that went up to his ears, a red and gold epaulette on his shoulders. Two sticks, in place of swords, were poking out of the jacket and being held in place by the sash.

Sabo was on the far left with one hand balled up into a fist next to his hip and a steel pipe in the other. He had on cyan pants, a dark blue shirt, a white cravat, his usual black top hat with blue goggles, and a captains jacket of his own. His jacket was about the same fashion as Ace's but the buttons were different and instead of having red at the end of his sleeves, it was the same blue as his pants.

In the middle was Luffy with both hands on his hips. He was wearing a yellow shirt, a red sash, his usual straw hat, and his captains jacket. Although the style was the same, almost everything else was different between his and his brothers jackets. Luffy's jacket had been red with gold trims and different buttons. The collar went up the same but was a little shorter and the epaulette was also red and gold while the ends of his sleeves were a lighter red. Poking out of his jacket and being held by his red sash was a small wooden sword.

All three had been looking at the same spot, almost as if waiting for someone to attack them. All three had been serious, waiting for a fight.

When Sabo had picked up the photo, he noticed something. On the one piece of glass that remained in place, the piece over Luffy's young face, there was a fresh tear blurring out the face.

**(Aaaaaaaaaaaand done! Nearly six thousand words! Does that make up for not updating last week? This chapter was actually supposed to come out in place of the last chapter but I got side tracked… A lot can happen in one day huh? Especially when that one day is in the world of One Piece. Sorry if you don't like the little bit of cooking knowledge Ace has. It most likely will never return. Also that was a real recipe! I searched for boar recipes on google and it sent me to a website with nothing but different ways to cook venison, antelope, and wild boar! That one looked the best in my opinion. If it sounded weird how I explained it, it's because some parts I didn't know how to say so I somewhat copied the directions XD I'm lazy I know! The recipe came from ****brokenarrowranch .com**** in case you wanted to know. This recipe is literally called 'Wild Boar Chops with Citrus Zest, Shallots, and Mustard Cream Sauce' XD So original right? Anyways. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 1:30 P.M.**

**End time – 12:45 A.M.**


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